The meaning of life, according to Jamie Foxx: “Get all that you can”
Jamie Foxx really has done it all in the entertainment business. After starting in TV comedy as a member of the sketch show In Living Colour, he moved into more serious roles, picking up an Oscar for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the biopic Ray. Since then, he’s zig-zagged between drama and comedy, making occasional stops in the realms of superhero movies and game shows. Oh, and there’s also his incredibly successful music career, which has seen him sell millions of records and win a Grammy. Basically, he’s doing alright for himself.
Another avenue through which Foxx has found success is voice acting. He has appeared in both of the Rio movies, voicing a yellow canary named Nico. He also voiced a foul-mouthed Boston terrier in Will Ferrell’s ill-advised R-rated dog movie Strays, but nobody is perfect. However, his most prominent contribution to animation is undoubtedly his voicing of Joe Gardner in Pixar’s 2020 film Soul.
One of the studio’s most high-concept projects, Soul describes what happens when Joe, an aspiring musician, dies in an accident. His spirit is sent to the afterlife, where it is mistaken for somebody else’s, and he is forced to mentor a cynical lost soul named 22, played by Tina Fey. Things get very complicated very quickly, as Joe attempts to return to the land of the living and accidentally enters the body of a cat. There are also characters played by Graham Norton and Richard Ayoade, in case things weren’t weird enough already.
Soul is all about Joe and 22 discovering what it means to live. It’s very philosophical, some would say too philosophical for a movie aimed at kids, and naturally sparked all sorts of discussions on the press trail. One interviewer from The Movie Blog, straight up asked the biggest question of them all: what does Foxx think is the meaning of life?
“I think that we’re supposed to live. But I also think that life is interesting in the fact that the Earth has been here for millions or however many years,” he opined. “If you think of 80 or 100 years, that’s really like a blink of an eye. So what I constantly say to people, and especially my family, is ‘Don’t waste your blink.’ So whatever the meaning is, now that you’re here, get busy about whatever it is that you want to do. Because we only live this life once. So get all that you can.”
While Foxx’s argument boils down to the old cliché of ‘seize the day’, he makes a good point, one that is very much in keeping with the message of this Oscar-winning animation. Joe waited his whole life for his big break in music, only to pass away days before. His life is made up of missed opportunities and chances not taken. The movie ends with him realising his mistakes and, having been given a rare second go-around, vows to always live life to the fullest.
In this sense, Foxx was the perfect person to play this role. His impressive list of achievements proves that he has never been afraid to live his life. He clearly embodies his own mantra, constantly aware that, if you take your eye off life for too long, you’ll miss your blink.
